HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The LEDESTM Oversight Committee (LOC), a
not-for-profit organization charged with creating and maintaining open
standard formats for the electronic exchange of legal billing and
information, has announced that it has ratified intellectual property
(IP) code sets for billing related to patent and trademark expenses.

The first of its kind for IP, the code sets provide legal professionals
with standard, industry-endorsed IP billing description codes that
promise to simplify law firm and corporate legal department billing
processes.

The code sets were developed by the Uniform Task-Based Management System
(UTBMS) IP Working Group, which operates as a subcommittee of the LOC.
More than 200 lawyers from companies, law firms and agents worldwide
contributed to the creation of these code sets. This ratification
culminates more than two years of work by the group.

“There was a real need for these code sets
within the legal community,” said Domenic Leo,
chair of the UTBMS IP Working Group and vice president of intellectual
property business development for DataCert. “Until
now, there was no IP billing code standard. Many corporations had
developed their own trademark and patent billing codes, which meant that
there were numerous customized codes to describe each expense. These IP
billing code sets will eliminate the ‘Tower of
Babel’ confusion and supply a unified language
for IP billing descriptions.”

The confusion related to IP billing is not confined to corporations.
Fortune® 500 law
departments often work with hundreds or thousands of law firms and
agents worldwide to prepare, prosecute and protect their critical
intellectual property. By adopting the new standard, the exchange of
bills and examination of charges will be vastly simplified. This will
eventually lead to benefits such as the ability of corporate law
departments to benchmark costs across industries and to increase
practice efficiencies in the preparation and prosecution of patents and
trademarks.

“Our goal is that these code sets will help
companies understand where they are spending IP services dollars,”
explained Bill Heinze, chair of the UTBMS IP Working Group patent
subcommittee and patent procurement counsel for GE Energy. “The
code sets will allow consumers to compare similar services from
different providers. Suppliers will be able to use the codes as a way to
discuss differences in pricing and align work expectations.”

Jane Bennitt, president of the LOC and manager consultant at Baker
Robbins & Company, commented, “UTBMS
coding is an ubiquitous aspect of electronic billing today. We encourage
the legal community to participate in the LOC’s
UTBMS comment and ratification processes.”

“The IP Working Group tackled this job with
an extremely collaborative strategy that allowed all interested parties
to contribute their expertise,” remarked Brad
Blickstein of The Blickstein Group. He drove the formation of the group
in 2005 and continues to oversee its work as a member of the LOC board
of directors. “Standard codes for patent and
trademark billing are in high-demand by the legal community. I commend
the IP Working Group for their exemplary dedication and hard work.”

Under the LOC’s care, the codes will be
positioned for needed updates, improvements and corrections with the
collaborative help of IP professionals.

The LOC will now present the code sets to other organizations for their
consideration and endorsement in a move to further their adoption
throughout the industry.

About UTMBS

The Uniform Task-Based Management System (UTBMS) is a budgeting and
billing system designed to provide clients and law firms with meaningful
cost information on legal services. For more information, visit www.utbms.com.

About the LOC

The LEDESTM (Legal Electronic Data
Exchange Standard) Oversight Committee (LOC) is an international,
voluntary, not-for-profit organization comprised of legal industry
representatives and is charged with creating and maintaining open
standard formats for the electronic exchange of billing and other
information between corporations and law firms. For more information,
visit www.ledes.org.